The physical attractiveness of others influences our professional and personal attitudes and behaviors in both strong and far-reaching ways.

While governmental regulations help guard against businesses exploiting physical attractiveness during recruitment and selection, attractiveness bias can be ethically used in efforts related to marketing and customer service orientation.

Accordingly, we review and summarize classic and contemporary research on the psychology of attractiveness and propose ideas and guidelines to help the service-hospitality industry seize opportunities to use "beauty
in business."

Seasoned marketers across all industries know that "sex sells." The general public recognizes this principle too, although both groups may not fully appreciate the widereaching effects the physical attractiveness of those around us has on our everyday attitudes and behaviors.

Within the hospitality, service and leisure industries these effects apply not only to impersonal advertisements and promotional materials, but also to interpersonal interactions among coworkers and between company representatives and customers.

With this in mind, we review and summarize classic and contemporary literature on the psychology of physical attractiveness. This foundation leads to a discussion of how companies can properly maintain the delicate balance between effective marketing versus adherence to ethical principles when it comes to taking advantage of the psychology of physical attractiveness.

Keep in mind that we use the term physical attractiveness here to refer to the perceived beauty of a person's anatomical features.

Non-anatomical physical features obviously play a role in physical attractiveness, but they are not the main focus of this paper. Where the latter are discussed, it will be in the context of showing how they influence perceptions of the former.

The "Beauty Premium": A Very Real and Powerful Phenomenon
Studies consistently demonstrate that physical appearance does matter and that people intuitively equate beauty with concepts like good-better, smart-successful and importantvaluable.

For full report: see www.hvs.com/Jump/?f=2511.pdf&c=3194

About the Authors
Eddy M. Elmer is a recent graduate of Simon Fraser University (Burbaby, British Columbia). A prolific Internet author, Elmer maintains a free psychology resource and commentary website: http://www.eddyelmer.com/start.htm that focuses on real world applications of innovative social science research.

James Houran holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and is President of 20|20 Skills™ assessment. He is an 18-year veteran in research and assessment on peak performance and experiences, with a special focus on online testing. His award-winning work has been profiled by a myriad of media outlets and programs including Court TV, Discovery Channel, A&E, BBC, CNN, NBC's Today Show, Wilson Quarterly, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, New Scientist, Psychology Today, Forbes.com and Rolling Stone.

For information on assessment, business surveys and professional development programs, contact:
James Houran, Ph.D. jhouran@2020skills.com 516.248.8828 x 264